A play

King (and Holy Roman Emperor) Arnulf the Corinthian

Lord Vorhang

Lignoli –Vorhang’s right hand man

Lord Barr – a minor lord  

Erol -  an English dignitary  

Lord Praktich

Lord Gespent

Lord Kugel

Lord Schlag

Lord Conrad

Lord Kielan  

Lady Katarine

Lady Mary – friend of Katarine

The Oracle

Two soldiers

Two henchmen for Schlag; Kaltnach and Heimrich

Courtesans

Various lords

   

Prologue

897 AD, Arnulf, King of the Germanic people history remembers as the Eastern Franks, and descendent of Charlemagne, returns home victorious in combat against the papacy in Italy.  He has claimed the greatest honor by coercing the unwilling Pope Formosus, through savage feat of arms, to crown him Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

His road to Emperor has been arduous, beginning as a bastard son to Carloman, nephew of the King, he proved his ambition by leading a successful rebellion against his grand-uncle, the rightful King and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Fat.  He was subsequently elected King of the eastern Franks by the tribune of lords in part due to his fearsome nature, which so few could help but fear.

But now it is time to celebrate, to take pleasure in success hard earned.  In welcome relaxation, the sobriety of warfare may give way.

   

Act 1

Scene 1

A grand party.  Lignoli is surrounded by a small group of revelers

Rev1    But the combat, how was our king, how did Arnulf fight?

Lig       Oh but the wine was so delicious, need I speak of fighting when more wonderful topics abound?  Very well, very well, if it is bloodshed you crave, who am I to contest the very natures of your souls; gentlemen… ladies.  At the height of the pitch, when all hell raged about our ears and the bolts of crossbows screamed as loudly as the dying Romans, having dispatched my foe, a very fat Roman with a commendable tolerance for punishment, I looked to where I could be of greatest service.  I searched across the brows of lesser conflicts and there, upon a slight hill in the field, stood our mighty King Arnulf, with but a single follower at his back, surrounded by five, no twenty, Roman dogs.  I made a determined effort to reach his side but was caught up in a swell of bodies, each jostling for the limited life the day had left to offer.  I hacked clear a view of the hill from the devilry before me and nearly swooned to see the one Frank fallen and yet ten Romans accosted the king.  But with his mighty Claymore he swept aside his assailants one at a time as calm and as poised as a dancer fluidly practicing his art.  Heads rolled, not tumbled, at that exacting hand and soon the great man stood alone.

Enter Lord Vorhang and Lord Barr

Vor      What’s this, tales of temerity and terror, do I hear?

Lig       Ah, Lord Vorhang, my beloved friend.  I was recounting the epic victory of our good king.

Vor      I hope you were not parsimonious in his praise, for no accolade can accomodate his augustness.

Erol      Are you an acquaintance of the Emperor?

Lig       An acquaintance?  I should say so; Master Erol, may I introduce Lord Barr and Lord Vorhang, trusted confidant and advisor to the king; Master Erol, an emissary from England.

Erol      Good sir.  Were you present, too, at the fighting?

Vor      Alas, no, a poor constitution, the curse of a childhood disease, keeps me from the glory of the field and I must content myself, vicariously, with the victories of our army.

Lig       Sometimes, my good lord, I wonder at that constitution of yours, your legendary carusing knows no inhibition.

Vor      I know no imbibition?  Fetch me a drink, I’ll correct your oppinions.

Lig       Nay, you jester, you imbibe plenty, tonight I have seen you consume spirits enough to intoxicate three healthy men

Vor      Never should a man hold back his mirth at the discretion of health, should he cease to live then he is already dead.

Lig       Ah, ha, well said!  Tonight I will be the living dead.  But wait, on the topic of pleasure; what holds you here when I distinctly recall just minutes ago making my exit from your side and leaving you at the mercy of three fine ladies.  Three ladies, whom I recall, were absolutely enthralled by your charm.

Vor      Alas, to victory in the field, little else compares; to hear your words is the greatest thrill of conquest.  Besides, look about, there are maidens more.

Lig       A sure man that tosses away such a catch as that; three roses, suppose the vase too small?

Vor      You know, as well as I, that not to be the case.  Lord Vorhang be the greatest swordsman to never wield iron!

Lig       Old dog, I wish it were that every week began with a good fight in the field and ended in a drink with you.

Erol      You’ve known each other long?

Lig       Long?  Good man these questions make me perspire to give justice voice.  It was this man that discovered me and showed me the way of my advancement, when we met I was but a mere fighting man with nothing but my sword and my freedom.

Vor      And a ridiculous Lombard tongue.

Lig       It may not be as sweet as yours but my tongue serves me well enough.

Vor      Alas, I fear you need it.

Lig       Were you trained in combat, I would curb that impudence of yours.

Vor      Good friend, amends are easily found on the further side of this coming drink.  To the Emperor!

Bar       To the Emperor!

Lig       To lord Vorhang!  Long live his wit, both tactical and jocular!   You rascal, you’ve finished my beer; and left nothing in your own for my reciprocation.

Vor      Perhaps next time you fancy dispensing silly compliments, you’ll stop your mouth with ale.

Lig       You’re two ahead and I mean to catch you yet.

Exit Lignoli  enter two soldiers

Erol      Do you contribute to the tactics of the military?

Vor      I, ah… Zufried!

Sol1     Lord Vorhang!  I killed two Romans in your honor!

Sol2     And I killed four!

Vor      My good men!  This deserves four drinks around, for the honorable man drinks to his friend’s success!  To Zufried, the bane of Romans and to Tallen, the lover of their women.

Sol2     So true, he hardly speaks of anything else.

Sol1     It is a land of doves, voluptuous doves, plagued by crows.

Vor      And it is your duty to rescue the doves?

Sol1     If it means the dispatch of every crow.

Sol2     Such beaks those crows have!

Exit soldiers laughing

Erol      The men like you well.

Vor      It is I who love the men.  Every time they wade into the mire of war, each loss pulls profoundly at my heart.  Through me, they all remember, and that is a great consoler to a fighting man.

Erol      With loyalty such as that in his ranks, your king must be a great man.

Vor      Yes, he is a great man that sets a great precedent.

 Erol     I wish that I could meet his highness.

Vor      He is not present?

Erol      Nay, not the whole evening through, I have eagerly awaited.

Vor      Some trouble must touch him, I must away.

 

Vorhang leaves Erol, Barr and the other revelers

Enter Lignoli

Lig       Here is one, and here is two.  And now we are even.

Vor      Lignoli, you have always been my most trusted man.  Have you always been true?

Lig       True, Vorhang?  I would never betray you, I am no fool, I know that in you, my fortunes lie.

Vor      That is good, you are a wise man, master of his abilities and aware of his faults.  Always be true, Lignoli, always.  It is impossible to live amongst deceit, in every action you must be true to win the respect of society.  Without the trust of others, you have no name, without respect you have no influence, no credence with your peers; completely impotent, no better than a dog.  But, you are permitted one lie; the credible and respected man is permitted only one lie and, by all means, he should make it a good one.  This single untruth, upon the bank of your reputation, no one will doubt.  With this one deceit you can make an elicit fortune, or grab the one thing you want most but rests beyond your means.  But you must be thorough and never caught, the immaculate reputation allays suspicion, but impunity depends on wisdom in action.

Lig       Your words, I do not doubt, are true, good friend, but why do you tell me this?  Do you doubt my sincerity?

Vor      Nay, Lignoli, rather I trust you with the greatest truth I know, the truth of deception.  Protect it well, you are my brother.

Exit Vorhang

Lig       The alcohol has touched him, I believe, to the point of excessive sobriety.

 

Scene 2

The king’s office

 

Enter King Arnulf (Emperor) and Lord Vorhang

Emp     I’ll kill them all!

Vor      Arnulf, be reasonable, one can not go about killing off the clergy.  The people bear a certain attachment to the bishop.

Emp     Schemers and deceivers, all of them!  They should hang in the square.  Especially the bishop.  Who, who does he think he is, inciting dissent whilst we’re away.  When I discover what man in our court informs him – wha!  I shall gut him personally.

Vor      Despite the scurrilous nature of our beloved bishop, killing him without first inoculating the public to bloodshed would be a foolish endeavor.  Although the church has suffered a defeat, it still remains a force not to be triffled with.  You are the victorious king, the powerful emperor, the people love you, be yet sure in your authority.  We have our leisure to sniff out the rat and discreetly effect his demise.  Even now, I am sure he cowers in his hole, quivering in fear at the return of the lion.

Emp     Perhaps you’re right.  They love me, do they?

Vor      Like a nephew loves his favorite uncle.

Emp     Ah, my own uncle was a good man.

Vor      Yes, you’ve told me of him.

Emp     He didn’t approve of my grasp for power; that always concerned me.

Vor      Your father did.

Emp     Yes, but my uncle, who was always my most wise advisor told me it would be my undoing.  He said the dangers of power are too great, always there lurks the jealous wolf and the hungry bear, waiting for their chance to strike, to rip and tear their victuals from the fat of the prosperous.

Vor      I could hardly call your prosperity ‘fat’.

Emp     You think?

Vor      ‘Fat’ is the reign you deposed, this is the rule of the fit, the prosperity of the strongest and most able.  Look at you, you have the strength of an ox, when I grab at your flesh, hard muscle repulses my grip.  You are honed and acute, fast and adroit, how is that fat?

Emp     You know not where to grab, I’ve more fat than you.  Not an ounce adorns your skin, you are as sleek as a cat.  And like a cat you slip into more maiden’s chambers than… than –

Vor      My lord, you are now a married man with infant heir – in your bachelorhood, you too were a libertine of ample sucess.  And you exaggerate my aptitude, even I can find the nights cold.

Emp     And then up and over to the barracks you go and drink away the night in the merry company of the men.  Such shouting, such jocularity, I envy the stories I hear.

Vor      Exaggerated, I’m sure.

Emp     I sometimes wonder what would become of me if I were to lose you, Vorhang.  You are indispensable to me, you are my ears amongst the men, my eyes into the politics of foreign lands.  And, to qoute your own description, before the eve of battle you are an ‘artist who, sending out the scouts, assembles their disparate accounts into magnificent portraits of stratagem’.

Vor      I was drunk when I spoke that immodesty.

Emp     You plan our marches and advise my sorties.  I sometimes feel your eyes, as if they guide my hand, when I strike my surprised foe atop his dull head.  You even win me the loyalty of my lords and provide me the language to speak to my people; I deliver my will in words I could never arrange myself.

Vor      My lord, you speak too highly of me.  Where would we be without your decisiveness, your authority and strong arm.  I am but weak, men do not fear me; what good are words in hell where the fires burn so loudly?  And my faults are all too apparent, my oversight all too manifest; a better advisor would have foreseen the bishop’s actions, and acted in prevention.  This discourse only serves to remind me of my guilt, which weighs heavily; I must humbly excuse myself and set to the task of regaining lost ground.  In the battle of politics, our antagonist awaits my discovery and your justice.

Emp     Good man, my love for you is too great, I fear it is a weakness of my character.

Vor      If it is a weakness, it is one I can protect unfailingly.

 

Scene 3

A hall in the palace

 

enter Praktich and Gespent

Ges      My good lord, my oracle now reads your success.  Recent events have sealed the king’s demise.

Pra       Your oracle, Gespent; sometimes you worry me.  Do I have a man behind me, or a fool?  Oracles, witches and visions in blood, pah, give me a cold sword and a swift pen and loyal followers who fear naught but my own displeasure.  Your gods and demons weary my faith in your convictions.

Ges      Praktich, I’m offering you reassurance, victory will be ours.

Pra       I take reassurance not in the tea leaves of some charlatan or the entrails of a slaughtered goat.  Reassurance is in a rational mind, always wary, always preparing, resting not in false pretences.  Our danger is real.  It is not too late to retract, we can still fall back into the shadows of obscurity, the bishop can hide behind his crimson robes; we have not yet stepped too far to return.

Ges      My good sir, no.  Our plans have proceeded flawlessly, you are poised to assume the throne; forces gather in Poland that should not – that can not be recalled without severe financial loss.  The investment is made, the step has been taken.

Pra       I feel coerced, compelled into actions preceding my preparedness.  Such treachery must be carefully observed, lest we all hang like cats from a line.  Your neck and mine, Gespent, they are combined, with one stroke they are severed, from one line they are hung.

Ges      Your thoughts too often turn to the morbid.  The danger of death already rests more heavily in the court than in this room.  The balance has already swung.

Pra       That is the point of concern, you believe it to be true?

Ges      Without doubt, my lord, you will be king.

Pra       I shall take assurance in your words, I only wish they would ease the demons in my dreams.

Exit Praktich

Ges      Good fortune, I thought he would never be contented, even now I expect Katarine’s approach.  Not more than mere moments, I have, to change the course of my concerns and she I anticipate will be at my side.  Well timed, well timed.  A deep breath; I must take of the faith I proselytize, my artifice provides.  Oh good fortune and good woman, soon all will be mine.  His mercy has blessed me with noble birth and with careful manipulation of my own construct, of men and darker things, I stand poised to gorge myself of all this world offers; wealth, power and the greatest jewel ever produced of human flesh.  Katarine, Katarine, when I began I knew nothing of for why I strove, my efforts were aimless; to prosper, for what?  But that fateful day, when first I laid my eyes on you, the angels sang and blessed me a man.  From that day, that moment of divinity, all my thoughts have been for you.  Ah, see how you walk this way, unknowing even that I compel you toward me, that I draw you in, as I draw every prize that fools shun to take, believing that greatness is not their fate.  But all gifts of god but one have lost their luster; all success is in your love, all of my aspiration – your bestowing kiss.  You come.

Enter Katarine

Ges      Good day, m’lady.

Kat      Good day, lord Gespent.

Ges      I, I, ah

Kat      Yes?

Ges      I was loathe not to see you at the king’s homecoming festivities.

Kat      Last night, I felt incapable of such amicability.

Ges      Plagued not by illness I hope.

Kat      No, not by illness.  By lacking desire.

Ges      Desire?  To forego festivity?

Kat      Yes, festivity, that’s what I lack; festive spirit.  Ah, to love the sight of hounds dressed as men, tussling and sniffing, gorging and volubly howling.

Ges      I, oh, I too find it boorish at times, when I yearn for something… gentler.

Enter Vorhang

Vor      Whoa ho, good Gespent, and good lady too, please forgive my abrasive nature, I thought lord Gespent to be alone.

Ges      Wha, no!

Vor      But to find him in the company of such an exquisite creature, it humbles my very nerves and drains my previous propulsion from my thoughts.  Why I came I can not fathom.  Good lady allow me to introduce myself, in, perhaps, a poorly concealed attempt to kiss your hand; I am lord Vorhang.

Kat      Lord Vorhang, I have heard of you.

Ges      Oh, ah, lord Vorhang, lady Katarine.

Vor      Lady Katarine, I hope you have heard only well.

Kat      Nay, the worst, I’m afraid.

Vor      The worst!  And how goes that?  Please enunciate your complaints such that I may be aware of my deficiencies.

Kat      I have heard that you are a drinker, a libertine and take the company of the roughest men.

Vor      My lady, all vain attempts at worldly satisfaction in the absence of divine beauty, I would but relinquish the first and second for the sublime contentment of the company of my equal in the fairer sex.

Kat      And the third?

Vor      My men?  But that is my business, the most able men are those who’s respect must be won at their pleasure, not through court or arms.  To lose the company of my men is to lose their loyalty and to lose their loyalty is to lose my life.

Kat      And who would kill you?

Vor      God himself, for denying His greater plan.

Kat      So he has plans for you, and your men?

Vor      Oh, most ambitious plans.  You laugh, Gespent.

Ges      So sure you are; all boys, at twelve, fancy themselves fit for king.

Vor      I never gave myself to that weakness of thought.  At twelve I was determined I would be fortunate to be half the man my father was.  As many a boy finds humility with age, I lightly shed it.

Ges      And you find this a beneficent progress?

Vor      Who am I to judge the righteousness of what is apt and natural.

Ges      What gives you leave to call it apt?

Vor      Approbation finds me in many forms.  But alas, I know not how we came to speak of this, expounding on my own merits is a hollow pursuit as the only being who has desire to know them, knows them all too well.

Kat      Oh, I find it rather fascinating, in the peculiar way one -

Ges      My dear lady, don’t feel compelled to slander your good word for his sake of pride.

Kat      I would never dream to do anything of the sort, for any man.

Vor      Rather than to speak of myself, I would hear the soft voice of so good a woman as stands before me now, that I could live of her words ‘till decrepit age tore me from her font, and in her absence bound me to hell.

Ges      A suiting end.

Vor      Gladly taken as the cost of bliss; the loss of goodness is no cause to forgo it’s bounty.  And now, before my novelty grows old and your thoughts return from whence I interrupted, I bid you adieu so that I may be remembered fondly and not as an imposition.

Exit Vorhang

Kat      Such a peculiar man.

Ges      Such an irascible rascal.

Kat      If he is a rascal, he covers it well.

Ges      He wears it well, perhaps.

Kat      I begrudgingly bid you adieu.

Exit Katarine

Ges      When the ship sinks, that man, I swear, will follow it down.  He has dogged my efforts here, even as he has dogged me in court.  Little does he know how his every self indulgence garners further punishment upon impending day.  My enemies shall pay and I, collect, when words are realized and every hope and strategem finds its due fruition.  And here, once again by my expert artifice, comes the good Lord Kugel, commander of the forces requisite to tip the balance of power and assure a satisfactory outcome for our determined cabal.

Enter Kugel

Ges      Lord Kugel, have you given thought to what I said?

Kug      I believe your cause just and noble, the king is a tyrant, his reign is cruel.  But a coup?  The kingdom is prosperous, few would risk prosperity, whatever the pains of rule.  And the loss of life – surely a few will die unfairly under Arnulf’s rule, but in a rebellion the cost in life would greatly exceed even decades at the mercy of the rages of a lunatic king.

Ges      My, good, sweet man, you have no cause to fear a bloody conflict, your forces are needed for mere posturing.  This is a war of politics, which rages, even now, unseen, behind closed doors.

Kug      It would be a bloodless coup?

Ges      A bloodless coup.  Lord Praktich is poised to assume the throne, all that remains is a definitive show of loyalty, a physical demonstration that the lords support the new king.

Kug      And you need my army for that?

Ges      Exactly.  Of course they will need be prepared for war, exactly as they would a real conflict.  Our actions must appear grave and legitimate for our stance to be convincing.  Your troops will need coordinate with those of the other lords and bear on the palace as a whole, intent on destruction.  Only then will Arnulf relent, and concede his claim to the throne.

Kug      And the armies called off, butchery avoided.

Ges      Butchery avoided.

Kug      I will, of course, require that I am oft consulted in the execution of such a plan; it is a delicate yet sound device.

Ges      Lord Praktich is a sound man.

Kug      He will make a good king.

Ges      We shall have many happy years to laud his benevolence but now is the time for action.  Go, good Kugel, gather your forces for war and await your further intelligence.

 

Act 2

Scene 1

Vorhang’s chambers

 

Enter Vorhang

Vor      I am, regrettably, a man in love.  What chemical misbalance consumes a man with lustful yearning?  Does excess blood pump through his veins? That drives his better faculties away, renders inert his productive spirit, his creative ambition, his free thought and leaves him listless and malcontent; always scheming, predicting her chance arrival, picturing her haunting visage and then collapsing, expended, into bed or couch or supportive recess of the wall.  Given a taste, an indication that she may be his, he is lost in supposition.  He can not sleep; his imagination turns over ever again her beautiful face, glowing lovingly before his own, and her soft skin, radiant beneath his searching fingers.  And then, even the imagination becomes tedious, his focus, his linear thinking degrades; he is left with nothing but her name and clenches in his hands some proximate object and stares intently into the emptiness that has consumed his thoughts.  The emptiness that can only be filled by her presence, a clearing he has made in his soul in anticipation of her arrival, a gap that leaves him painfully exposed.

I must have her, my political duties pale before me, my very livelihood is in peril from neglect.  Am I not a wise man, has not my every move in life been calculated, assessed for risks and prioritized toward advancement?  I am at the peak of power, where I must be vigilant and sharp.  Yet I grow dull and niggardly, and I care not even for what may become of me.  Dissenters be damned, I want that woman!  Those eyes, those wonderful eyes that see right into me as if observing my very soul.  And such beauty confined within one mortal body that it spills forth from her very form and sweetens the air around her. I can have her, her expression tells me as much.  I need only opportunity.  Opportunity, I can effect.  But I must wait, duty calls, my artifice needs attend to my king or all will be lost.  Lignoli!

Enter Lignoli

Lig       Vorhang?

Vor      Find news of some misdeed of the bishop’s, that lacking, fabricate something plausible, and then drop hints and let the populace discover these improprieties on their own.  Perhaps a murdered rival, not yet murdered, or a publication of some excess of the church’s influence – always some man stands deprived of his property due to ecclesiastic excess.  Find this man and make him a martyr; a representative – an icon for the common resentment resting in every man’s heart.  Then kill this fellow in some underhanded method and with every innocent denial it makes let the church further the distrust of the people.  Find some cooperative, aspiring deacon to fund and abet in his rise toward glory, and then, at my signal, effect the bishop’s demise and herald this grateful fellow into his vacant robes.  Let this be a lesson to all who assume to trifle with the crown.

Lig       And to think I feared boredom in the coming months; the church – a worthy opponent not yet released of our antagonism.  I will undertake this task with the assiduous care you have come to expect of my every action.

Vor      Good Lignoli, I have every faith in your abilities, for with years of cooperation your understanding and execution of my most subtle intentions have developed considerably and in you I see a near facsimile of my effective will.

Lig       Your glowing words alone win my loyalty.

Exit Lignoli

Vor      Ah, there it is, the spark is back, it only needs exercise.  A determined will can overcome any obsession, even that of love.  Why, the thrill of exercising the wit grows stronger even, in the mind of the advanced man, than the thrill of reproduction.  Like the division of man from beast; effecting or abiding by the environment, is the division between the genius and all others; effecting or abiding by one’s self.  Let them come to topple me, they know not with what god they meddle.

 

Scene 2

A hall in the palace

 

Enter lord Gespent and lord Schlag

Sch      Why must we bide our time, why must it always be wait, wait, wait?

Ges      Lord Praktich –

Sch      Praktich be damned, the man lacks a king’s conviction.

Ges      He is stately and wise and garners the respect of the court.

Sch      He is slow.  While the words of the bishop still linger in the ears of the people, we must strike.  The bishop is frightened, he will speak no more, our opportunity escapes as we wait, our hands idle at our sides, our swords rusting in their scabbards!

Ges      Good Schlag, calm yourself.  Politics are a delicate pursuit.

Sch      Politics are nothing, a fancy of the human mind, there is only flesh and steel, every thing else is fantasy.

Ges      A fantasy perhaps, but what is money, marriage or master but mental convention; they are fantasies we all live by, our fantasies we cling to more vigorously than life itself.  Without them we are nothing, base clay, nothing more.  The divine touch of god that makes us men is in our minds, it is our ability to know the intangible as true and compelling.  Our societies depend on it.  We shall await word from Poland, that our forces are on the march.  A fool acts before his victory is assured.

Sch      And it is also a fool who misses his opportunity for want of reassurance.

Ges      The opportunity will be ours, Schlag, be patient, trust in two seasoned politicians.

Sch      I will trust in my sword, I only hope you find use for it before it finds use of its own.

Exit Schlag

Ges      Restless fool.  But an able fighter we can not lose.  Tensions are high all around, yet four days more must we wait before we can even hope for word that the army marches.  Who’s this, a familiar face returned?  The doltish Kielan, from business in the East if my memory serves me justly.

Enter Kielan

Ges      Lord Kielan, welcome return.

Kie       Gespent, recent fighting well fought; the Romans, I hear, are now humbled by our king.

Ges      Rightly said, it is truly a happy time for the Franks.  How fare your interests in Moscow?

Kie       Business is rough, I’m afraid, a loss, perhaps, awaits me.  But of that I desire not to speak.  A peculiar, even frightening, thing I noticed in my travels dominates the forefront of my thoughts and sweeps away all other concerns.

Ges      Oh, do tell.

Kie       While returning, through Poland, I encountered an army gathering.  Under the proper inquests I discovered it to belong to our very Lord Praktich.  A sizable force, it was alarming, to say the least.

Ges      Kielan, my dear man, you fear for nothing, it is a shame you were subject to such concern, in doubt, so long.  The army is Praktich’s indeed, he plans to march it on Hungary and smite the savage Huns.

Kie       The Huns?

Ges      Yes, the Huns, to gain favor with the king by expanding the borders of his empire and defeating an impudent foe.  But it is a secret maneuver, Magyar spies in the court must not be alarmed.  From Poland the army will march south, never entering the borders of our fair land.

Kie       Ah, Praktich has always been a shrewd and upward climber in the favor of the court.

Ges      I expect great things of our friend.

Kie       The Huns, you say.

Ges      Yes Kielan, the Huns, on all sides the world will know the might of the united Franks.  You are weary from your travels, you will feel much better when you have slept in your own bed.  Remember, though, that it is a secret maneuver and must not fall upon the ears of spies and informants.

Kie       Perhaps I concern my self taxingly.

Ges      Adieu.

Kie       Good bye, kind Gespent.

Exit Kielan

Ges      I wonder how such a fool survives afloat in this tumultuous world we live in.  Some fortunate Muscovite is reaping the fiscal boon of his idiocy.

 

Scene 3

The king’s outer chamber, a broken table

 

Arnulf and Vorhang

Emp     Twenty five men I killed in the last month all from such proximity that I could hear them breath their last.  No one who knows my might dares face me; I am peerless.  Yet, I fear rivals?  They are voices in the night, shapes moving in the darkness; if only I could see them, I could smash their heads.  I do not fear them, Vorhang, it is a frustration, an irritation that swells to rage.  This table, my latest outburst.  It was very expensive, each stone selected for color and shape, cut by a master, in very fine detail.  Detail we overlook in daily life.  Did you ever notice how detailed the tiling of this table was, when it still stood?

Vor      Yes, and that of it’s brothers in the west hall and the foyer.

Emp     That’s right, I have two more.  Vorhang, if only you could point me to my foe so that I could know his face, and remove it from his shoulders.  There is no honor in these men, no fear of god, they dabble in the devilry of deceit!  If they do not fear god, then they will learn to fear me!

Vor      We shall destroy them, Arnulf, all we need is time, of which we have plenty.

Emp     Why do they hate me? 

Vor      There is no rest for a ruler, for he has nothing to gain and all to lose.  The underling sees only the glory of power and he craves it.  The sap, the constant, daily drain of enforcing the letter of the rules from the ceaseless prodding and testing fingers of the insatiable masses, is the wise ruler’s necessary discomfort.  It may be delegated to officers, but in that there is the danger of mismanagement or even seditious misrepresentation.

Emp     Then, again, I am fortunate to have you, you are an officer I can trust.  But why, do you think, must they constantly test my authority?

Vor      What, for you, is a chore, is for them an effortless grab for more.  Why shouldn’t they grasp for what they are not entitled?  Perhaps your vigilance will be slothenly and they can take just a little more than is their privilege; their transgression, they hope, will go unnoticed, through either the weary ambivalence of constant wear or the benign ignorance of constancy.

Emp     What defense do I have against this casual assailment on my lordship?  Biting serpents!  Would these cowards make themselves known…

Vor      That is what I am for, to see where you can not.  From my hunter’s blind behind your purple robes I may observe the movements of the snakes when your back is turned.

Emp     A strong man can benefit greatly from wise friends.

Vor      And he must, for the sake of his sanity and poise, trust in their abilities.  You must calm your temper and, in the evenings, rest; allow me to worry the nights and you shall dominate the days.

Emp     I find solace in your speech.  Tonight I sleep with the assurance that on the morrow I will find upon my desk a list of names, whose owner’s heads I shall dispatch in the order written.

Vor      Metaphorically, of course, it will be done although the reality of such a list may take some days in compilation.

Emp     Good night, my friend.

Exit Arnulf

Vor      Oh simple, distracted man, your utility sometimes wanes in deference to your thick skull.  Should driver pause to assure his mule the profitability of their journey, should carpenter counsel his hammer?  And what farmer would coax milk from his cow in careful conversation?  He is but strong shoulders that wield a mighty sword and wear the kingly robes so wide and deep that I may hide amongst them, comfortably unseen.  Oh Arnulf, if only time spent in you were as effective as in duteous Lignoli; a mighty Emperor you’d be by now, so accustomed to your role that it would be your second nature.  If only you would act without asking and have faith in your god.

 

Scene 4

A hall in the palace

 

Vorhang alone

Vor      My suspicions return to Gespent, his recent audacities in court belie a man swollen with some new confidence.  Yet, he is too weak to fancy himself king, surely he is not so delusional as to imagine he possesses the requisite alliances.  No, he is wise enough to know the limits of the court, therefore, if he acts, he acts not alone.  But who has the force of arms to stand against Arnulf?  The Franks are loyal, that much I have ensured; the army will not split nor follow any other than myself or their king.  A force to foil the Franks, I can not conjure through my knowledge, yet surely one must await unseen.  Rather, the focus should be turned toward who may profit, who may assume the throne.  Do local lords deign the seat?  Or perhaps some foreign king plots from afar.  But which?  Who spends his time most in company with Gespent?  No name leaps to claim responsibility; whomever acts, covers his motions well.  An army and a royal aspirant await my discovery.

Who is this who ambles so loudly along these sacred halls?

Enter Kielan

Vor      Lord Kielan.

Kie       Lord Vorhang, how fare you?  Drunk off the success of your liege?

Vor      Not quite intoxicated. 

Kie       Oh, I see.

Vor      Something concerns you?

Kie       Is this not a happy time for our people, a time of peace?

Vor      Certainly, we are a prospering people.  Do you see otherwise?

Kie       It, it’s nothing really, it simply occurs to me that in this time of ample success, in which all can share, priority should lie in peaceful proceedings in all aspects of policy.

Vor      I could not agree more, a salient point indeed.

Kie       Why stir up conflict that could interfere with prosperity?

Vor      Wisely asked.  But from where could conflict come?  A gentle dawn arises.

Kie       That I do doubt, Vorhang.

Vor      Oh dear, am I misled in my blissful fancies?  Surely you must be mistaken.

Kie       If only it was the case, I’m afraid.

Vor      Please, share your concern, elucidate, that I might better understand.

Kie       Nay, I would not wish to worry your jolly soul, enough suffer in doubt already.

Vor      Good Kielan, I fear already my ability to sleep will be impaired, with this ambiguous worry mulling in my mind.

Kie       How stand the relations of the Franks and the Huns?

Vor      Quite well since we defeated them last year, from what I am aware.  A recent pact has secured the border, and was indeed a factor contributing to our victories abroad.

Kie       Than perhaps an invasion may not be wise.

Vor      An invasion?

Kie       I doubt you to be a Magyar spy.

Vor      With good reason, I should desire.

Kie       Praktich plans an attack on the Huns, to win the king’s favor.  Perhaps you could advise him, using your sway at court, to better think his course of action.  Of course, it would be best that you not betray that you are aware of his intentions, for fear this returns to me, I daren’t wish to step on any toes in court.

Vor      Praktich plans an attack?

Kie       On the Huns.

Vor      How came you by this information.

Kie       I saw the very preparations in the making.

Vor      Preparations?  A gathering of arms?

Kie       In Poland as we speak.

Vor      In Poland! 

Kie       Yes Poland.

Vor      Ah, in Poland indeed, a clever man, Praktich, but perhaps his ambition is reckless.

Kie       You think so?  I do too, you will consult him, won’t you, advise him in pleasing the king.

Vor      Oh, I will, most certainly.  Thank you Kielan, you have always been most conscientious.

Kie       Good day, Vorhang.

Exit Kielan

Vor      Aha, I have the culprit and information to exploit.  Now I need employ only a bit of charm and an anodyne smile, to catch the whole cabal.  Men are only as wise as the fools they trust in.  A wise man, was Praktich, lessened by this fool.

 

Act 3

Scene 1

The occult residence of the oracle

 

Oracle

Enter Gespent

Ges      Oracle, everything has happened as you said.  Praktich and I stand on the brink of victory.  Kugel has as much as signed over his forces to my control, all he needs in return is the occasional ‘consultation’ wherein I ask him some inane question and he offers me his most sagacious advice.  He seems quite relieved to be on the winning side.

Orc      Silence, a premonition seeks me.

Ges      Oh, good lord.

Orc      The maelstrom consumes, fire burns blood!

Ges      Oh!

Orc      Temper rages, flesh is the tool of demons; better men are beasts.  The loss of generations shall be incurred.  The wise man shows care, lest he be unmade a man.

Ges      My head, I shall protect; low and hidden will I remain, whilst Praktich leads the armies from atop his steed.

Orc      There is grave danger in a foolish man.

Ges      Keilan!  I feared as much.

Orc      Success shall be found in the end, and one who is not expected shall be king.  Adversity is fought and many shall die.  Plans well laid shall lie in ruins.

Ges      Ruined plans, yes, Vorhang and Arnulf shall suffer a change of plans, I dare say.

Orc      The destination is assured, conclusions clear, yet the treachery of the road is obscured in shadow.

Ges      Shadow?  Yes, I think I may know what casts away my light.  Do you, do you see Katarine, perhaps?

Orc      Her’s is a dark fate, one mired in risk.

Ges      Can I rescue her?

Orc      The future is not set, but in troubled times a contested woman is an unwise luxury to pursue.

Ges      I see what I must do.  The means to change this land, to change history, are in my hands!  What is one woman but a trifle to one who deals in epochs?  Greatness can not be halted in its progress.  A bag of gold, to please the gods.  I shall return, a man of boldest action.

Exit Ges

Orc      Dire days loom for those who can not heed the warnings of the clouds as they draw darkly over our land.

 

Scene 2

A garden  

Katarine and Mary  

Mar      I sense that you are distracted today.  We have walked now for twenty minutes yet not once have you attempted to broach the subject of tonight’s musical performance which, yesterday, you could not cease to expound in eager anticipation.

Kat      Ah, the performance, I had not forgotten.

Mar      If you have not forgotten, then your excitement has simply fallen much like one jaded by exposure drops a dated fashion.  You must admit this is is odd; when one considers the performance has not yet occurred and has, therefore, not had the opportunity to become less novel.  Perhaps, rather, something more facinating has taken its place.

Kat      Perhaps

Mar      Now you grin

Kat      I do not, although with perverse pleasure you certainly do bare your teeth in the furor of your ‘fashionable’ inquisition.

Mar      Perhaps it is because I have caught the scent of a secret.

Kat      Is a young woman not permitted to change her mind?

Mar      Permitted, yes, in most cases.  And in most of those cases expected, even.  But if such a change of mind had occurred, solely dependent on the subject of the performance, then the performance would still remain the topic of the day and I would hear it maligned rather than this utter neglect.  No, I think something else has taken priority in your thoughts.

Kat      If you must know, I am bothered lately.

Mar      By… by a…

Kat      By a man, a troublesome man.  Now stop it.

Mar      I knew it, yet I also knew that if I were the first to mention the possibility of a man you would deny it adamantly.

Kat      I would not.

Mar      So this man is bothersome?

Kat      Very.

Mar      And he is handsome?

Kat      He is exasperating.

Mar      Handsome?

Kat      Persuasive perhaps.

Mar      More handsome than Lord Robert?  Oh, not Vorhang?

Kat      You know?

Mar      Who else could have sown such confusion?

Kat      Have you felt it?  Have you been the subject of his interest?

Mar      Nearly, once.

Kat      But you felt it not?

Mar      Nay, he was compelled away, the moment lost, his interest waned.  His interest lies with you?

Kat      I don’t know, I’ve had indication that perhaps it has.

Mar      Yes?

Kat      What?

Mar      What kind of indications?

Kat      I, I, oh nothing.

Mar      You only insult me with modest lies.

Kat      I receive these letters.

Mar      Letters, you wench, I knew not he wrote, nor hast any Frankish woman.  …Such words… 

Kat      Mary

Mar      I’m not done.  Such words…

Kat      Think you he a fair man?

Mar      A fair man, certainly, the fairest.

Kat      A good man – possessed of fidelity?

Mar      He has never been known to be persuaded so, although his affections are oft exaggerated, I think; vain women sometimes are negligent to refute the pride of men.  But what if he was? he knows women.

Kat      That is my fear; too well.

Mar      Nay, a woman should embrace a man who understands her well, all too few are educated so.  It is through ignorance that they are compelled toward selfishness, boorishness.  If men only knew the complex beauty of a woman, not only the veneer they find so alluring, they would be ever grateful for our graces.  Vorhang is of the type that appreciates what he has, and in doing so reaps of the fullest boon; his affections are exhaustive.

Kat      You hear?

Mar      I saw, in his smile.

Kat      His smile; more disarming of a ladiy than a sword.  It worries me the most, in it I see a devil.

Mar      Without a hint of the devil, a man lives without the compulsion of possession.  A woman can hold a pillow at night, but it’s not much good when Huns ravage the countryside and famine makes food scarce.

Kat      I fear in him there is no respect for danger, no fear of god.  He is as if unrestrained by rational compunction.

Mar      True, I too sense he is his own authority, but as we feel it, so do men.  Yet to men authority is not something observed and discussed, it is felt; it is an element of their very reality.  They live and fight in a hierarchical world of courts and armies.  As it is the women who keep score, we understand even better than they, the rules of the game.  His pride is simply a display of his success; he is respected by the other players.

Kat      You’ve thought of this much.

Mar      I want a winner; my natural gifts somewhat lacking, I need extra care if I am to succeed in my aims.

Kat      Mary! Vorhang is a winner?

Mar      The greatest in this modest court.

Kat      Then perhaps I will be less than successful in my resistance to his affection.

 

Scene 3

Vorhang’s quarters

 

Vorhang

Vor      Like a pack of hounds each pursuing a separate trail my mind is all consciousness as I madly draw near my disparate hares.  Nay hares, predators I hunt, tigers await me.  Tigers that slink amongst the long grass, salivating for my blood, unaware that I have seen them, that as they draw close, I draw my sword.  I can not sleep and, divested of dreams, all is my restless reality.  Excitement mounts as my plans proceed, adrenaline my constant charge, to affect a casual countenance – a painful chore.  Were every day such as this I would age at two times the rate yet live four times the life.  With a mind so full of occupation, agreement is found in the limbs’ unwillingness to rest.  Sleep that robs a man of half his life, pilfers me no longer.  With a life threatened, I find occupation to live.  Ah, Lignoli is in the passage – a servant with a distinctive step is doubly valuable.

Enter Lignoli

Vor      How now, Lignoli?

Lig       I have done as you instructed, Vorhang.  The people mull and brood, the guilds, particularly, are outraged, the bishop has many enemies.

Vor      Then all is good.

Lig       Perhaps, yet the climate is not so safe, resentment for the king boils as well, with instability all in high places stand to fall.

Vor      Of course, yet the bishop has not my hand to steady him, but rather to shake him down from where he pontificates atop his chair.

Lig       I fear soon we may find that every man fends for himself.

Vor      Good Lignoli, we may not yet fear anarchy.  Men desire order, they desire to be led, they need only something to trust in.  What is so unfortunate for our Arnulf is that his seat is not deigned by god.  When he deposed the royal line he killed an unquestioning faith in the hearts of men.  With an established blood line comes the will of god, and what man dares disobey the will of god?  Plenty of men, perhaps, but not without ample evidence that god’s will may be divided amongst further, just, ends.  Our poor Arnulf must remain savagely steady and daily prove his divine affirmation, only time and complacency and the gracious hand of historians will set his progeny in the light of god’s blessing.

Lig       Many think him a tyrant.

Vor      The people, wanting god, need fear something, Arnulf fulfills this need, he is the crux of fear that holds this society together.  He keeps the criminals lawful and the dissenters quiet, allowing the concerns of the state to proceed, to the benefit of all.

Lig       Yet the dissenters are agitated, they fear less each day.

Vor      They sense a change, a critical vicissitude in the divine will.  Should it be the unseating of a tyrant king then they are poised to reap what they can in the chaos that would assuredly follow.  Yet, should the king persevere, his position will only be strengthened; the failed coup an example of his divine right.

Lig       What shall we do if he should fall?

Vor      We scramble to hold what we can, preserve our heads above the tumult and watch where best we can press our advantage, I am yet a powerful man, king or no king, emperor or not.

Lig       Faith, you could convince me were I an incredulous imam.

Vor      Compliments are due some other time.  Now I need you to be the shadow Praktich can not shake.  Innocently, keep him gregarious, detached from clandestine communication.  Buy me as much time as I may need.

Lig       I have many friends that will soon need to speak with the good man.

Vor      Godspeed, good Lignoli.  Now I must to Kugel, I suspect this reasonable man who commands an army so near, holds some key to this cabal.

 

Scene 4

A clandestine hideout

 

Praktich, Gespent, Schlag

Pra       Three of the five gathered at once, this isn’t wise, especially considering the recent attentions of that damned Italian of Vorhang’s.

Ges      Vorhang!  The first thing I do, when you have control, is crush that man.

Sch      Just one man?  My ‘first thing’ is at least ten.

Pra       Gentlemen, we are much too far ahead of ourselves, sword has not yet even been drawn.  We are still, if you haven’t noticed, three disgruntled men hiding in a dank cellar.  Which brings me back to the point of our meeting, Gespent?

Ges      Kielan, I believe, is a liability we can not suffer a moment longer.  He knows too much; in these coming days, it is critical he doesn’t betray us.  If what you say of Lignoli is true, then Vorhang may be growing suspicious.

Sch      Then we kill him, nothing could be simpler.

Pra       Simpler?  For a simpleton!  Murder is the most care worthy occupation; a convincing cause and method for the death must be arranged before proceeding, nary a hint of suspicion should return to the circumspect perpetrator.

Sch      Then tell me how it should be done and I’ll do it.

Pra       How it should be done?  I fear I have little experience in such pursuits.  Now, more than ever, am I preoccupied by issues enough that I shan’t be called heedlessly to plot the murder of an idiot.

Ges      Praktich, good lord, tireless conspirator, leave this minor problem to my concern.  I will see to it with the assiduousness of your own attentions.

Pra       Gespent, this is not a undertaking to trifle with.  Should we be delayed in our attack, a murder could draw us the attention of our undoing.

Ges      Yes, yes, your concern is heeded, I will proceed with care.

Pra       I must depart, I fear discovery by that importunate Italian.

Exit Praktich

Sch      How shall we proceed, Gespent, in this, our first act of decision?

Ges      We kill the fool.  He has debtors enough to warrant a messy murder in some dark alley.

Sch      I agree, but what of –

Ges      Praktich worries enough for all of us, it is my role in this cabal to supercede when conscientious concern is unwarranted; I shall effect decisive action.  The bureaucrat has his uses but history is shaped by the impatient; while worrisome statesmen hide behind their parchment edicts empires are toppled and raised by the sword and hammer.  Why should Kielan live another hour?  His mere existence is a threat to our cause, a greater risk than his most ostentatious demise.  Should we kill him now, Kielan’s death will precede the revolt by some few days.  A formal inquest would be but in bureaucratic arrangement when, with the force of a deluge, all memory of such an insignificant life is swept away in the tumultuous and sanguinary exchange of power.

Sch      Your words inspire me, compel me toward action.  I beg that you allow me to oversee this execution, to strike out against weakness, sloth and cowardice.

Ges      By all means, Schlag, to your health.

Sch      The sun shall not rise on our foolish confidant.

Exit Schlag

Ges      And it begins, as prophesied, the enemies of Gespent fall before his exacting decision.

 

 

Scene 5

A hall

 

Kugel

Enter Vorhang

Kug      Lord Vorhang.

Vor  -aside- and now I will gamble on his good intentions

Vor      Good day Kugel.  I’ve been searching for you.

Kug      Oh, bearing good news, I hope.

Vor      I’m afraid not.  Kugel, I come to you in strictest confidence, knowing you to be a rational and fair man; Kugel, I sense a great vicissitude.  The Emperor has slowly, even before the conquests, lost his grip on the kingdom.  In all truth, he is a tyrant, not fit to rule a people with such promise as the Franks.

Kug      But you, Lord Vorhang?

Vor      I am a reasonable man, Kugel, I understand what is immanent and what is just, even if it means a hindrance to my own prosperity.

Kug      You speak to me in concern for the good of the people?

Vor      Nothing else, perhaps excepting a fear of god.

Kug      Good Vorhang you know not what comfort this brings me.  My only reservation, assuaged.  I have an admittance to make, I only wish I had known your heart sooner, even now, plans are in motion to remove the king.

Vor      Remove the king, you don’t say.

Kug      Bloodlessly, the plot is prudent, it has been a long time in its conception.

Vor      Lord Praktich should be admitted to this circle, if he may be convinced, his reason is direly needed in such an undertaking.

Kug      Oh, Vorhang, he is already in; he is the chief contributory and is to be placed on the throne in Arnulf’s stead.

Vor      Good news.  Who else do we have to rely on?

Kug      Lord Gespent, a very clever man when difficulties arise, Lord Shlag and Lord Conrad, respected soldiers –should our cause lack persuasion.

Vor      Aha, then it is only five?

Kug      Six with you, and comprising the most respected of the court.  Our victory is all but assured, with you we have significant influence in the army.  Fully half the men, I am convinced, would take your side.  Arnulf would have no choice but to surrender.

Vor      That certainly appears to be the case.  Kugel, I must ask of you one favor if this plan is to be effected seamlessly, could you go, immediately, to your men and march them to my forces in the western keep.  It is the city’s most critical ingress and my most loyal soldiers are stationed there.  I would feel an effervescent release of worry should I know you to be personally in control of such a pivotal body of men.  I have here with me a letter stamped with my seal for the captain of my guard, entrusting my forces unto your able command.

Kug      You foresaw my cooperation?

Vor      I knew you to be a reasonable man, one who could be trusted to make the right decision.  I only knew not that you were also one of proactive persuasion, who had already taken measures of his own.  This intelligence bodes well for the benefit of our people.  I will see to informing Praktich and Gespent of my cooperation, you needent worry yourself further with matters within the court.

Kug      Then I will immediately depart.  I feel relieved of my final reservation; particularly, that my own men were not under my personal supervision.

Vor      We shall both sleep better tonight, I predict.

Kug      Adieu Vorhang.

Exit Kugel

Vor      Splendid, with their names I have their lives.  First, to take care of Praktich; with his death the others will be leaderless, reeling and confused, easy game for an expert huntsman such as myself.  But how best to handle Praktich?  I think Arnulf well needs a chance to reassert his assets, in an arena visible to his own people; therefore I shall contrive an opportunity for him to kill the traitor in single combat.  It should hardly be a contest, Praktich isn’t nearly the warrior Arnulf is, although this means it should be necessary to provide Arnulf a clear moral cause for such butchery.  Perhaps this cause can be found in defending myself, the beloved, yet physically inept, Vorhang.  The scheming Praktich emerges from the tenebrous shadows to cowardly strike at the court favorite.  The, sometimes brash, yet loyal and honorable king intervenes, personally defeating the traitor, proving, in literal manifestation, his authority beyond question.  No one with half a wit is left to lead the revolt and the remainder of the rats are rounded up and summarily dispatched as a matter of policy; the people hardly take notice but to nod assent.  The public unrest is assuaged by the bloodshed, the people feel some change has been made for their benefit – some corruption in the court crushed; everyone is happy.

A reasonable plan that lacks but a beginning.  How to pique his ire? How to lead Praktich to his doom?  Should he learn that I am aware of his plans, and on my way to inform Arnulf he would need to secure my immediate demise.  If he were presented such a catastrophe whilst alone, he would have no choice but to act himself.  I need only to arrange that he apprehends me somewhere Arnulf can observe unseen.  Then the king can simply stride forward to rescue me with little danger to my own person.  It would be all the more convincing if Arnulf himself were unaware of the proceedings and acting in an unspoilt nature.  I need only to inform Arnulf that I suspect Praktich and detail my intentions to betray his confidence in Arnulf’s presence.  When he witnesses me, pursued by Praktich, his simple mind will jump to the necessary conclusion and effect the desired outcome.

Now, with Kugel’s expedient departure, I have removed the only person aware of my discoveries and I have my leisure to proceed; I know all and suffer no suspicion.  This gives me time enough to marry the fair Katarine who’s attentions have awaited me all too long.  The profound pain that has struck me in my every unoccupied thought will soon be dispelled, my love will be mine.  Happy conclusion will this week see; my enemies destroyed, my love secured.  How long shall I stand here speaking to myself, I am wanton with my time, Katarine awaits.

Exit Vorhang

 

Act 4

Scene 1

A dark corner of the yard

Enter Schlag, Kaltnacht, Heimrich

 

Sch      Consistency is such a foolish weakness; this dark path he walks every night, to clear his head before the night’s rest.  Clear his head, bah, the walk need not be long for such a fool as Kielan.

Hei       It will be a long walk tonight.

Sch      A long walk to hell.

Hei       This Kielan, is he good with the sword?

Sch      Good?  He knows the feel of the blade, he has fought on the field, but he is an imbecile, we could strike him twice and then convince him ‘twas accidental.

Hei       Very well, so much the simpler for us.  How shall we do this?  Shall you stand here and detain him whilst the two of us step from these shadows and strike him down unnoticed?

Sch      We could, but where is the sport in that?

Hei       Sport?  Could it fail?

Sch      No, it couldn’t fail, it would succeed perfectly if your only aim were to kill the man.

Hei       It’s not?

Sch      Where’s the satisfaction in that?  This is not a pig we are killing.  This is a man and he must me made to understand that he is going to die.  He must know who’s going to kill him.

Hei       For honor?

Sch      Honor?  Nay, satisfaction; I want him to know his better before he departs this cruel world.  Unlike an animal, his death is not for food but of the contest between men.  The divine touch of humanity is in our motivations, from the greatest art to the basest debauchery all exceed the instinct of an animal and an execution is unique, in this world, to the species of man.  Therefore it should be given special consideration, afforded it’s due reverence and drama.

Hei       Very well, then how shall we proceed, properly?

Sch      I shall stand here.  The two of you shall wait in those shadows.

Hei       The very shadows –

Sch      When he appears, I shall detain him.  The two of you approach from behind, draw your swords, then wait.  He will gradually grow aware of your presence.  The expression on his face will be priceless as doom and dread enters his consciousness.  Then, as he clings to his denial, reassuring himself that the situation is not as it appears, I will notify him that his time has come.  He will likely beg for his life and I will cooly explain how his existence is an inconvenience that can not be tolerated.  I will say something profound, compelling his silence, and then he shall be struck dead in the hallowed quietude.

Hei       Who shall strike the blow?

Sch      Well, I, it’s only suiting; he shall be facing me, my countenance will be the last thing he sees.  Careful, someone approaches.

 

Heimrich and Kaltnacht hide in the shadows

Enter Kielan

 

Sch      Good evening Kielan.  A nice evening for a stroll.

Kie       Oh, Schlag, I didn’t notice you.  Yes, a lovely evening.

Sch      Hold a moment.

Kie       Yes?

Heimrich and Kaltnach emerge, unnoticed

Sch      I have something I wish to discuss with you.

Kie       Oh, and what may that be?  Lord Schlag?

Sch      I, ah, it regards Lord Praktich.

Kie       Oh, Lord Praktich.

Sch      Yes

Kie       Yes?

Sch      Ah, yes.

Kie       Yes?  Perhaps we could speak later, I am quite tired and perhaps this is not the best place.

Sch      Ah, no.

Kaltnacht stabs Kielan in the back.

Kie       Aie, what treachery is this?

Sch      Whah, why… your mouth is too large for your own good, Kielan!

Hei       He is dead, Schlag.

Sch      Damn it.  To hell with him, why waste time with imbeciles?

Exit all

 

Scene 2

A hall

Vorhang

Enter Lignoli

 

Vor      Ah, Lignoli, never late.

Lig       How now, are you a married man?

Vor      A quiet ceremony we had, but the friar and a few monks were witness.  But for lack of attendance and show it was greater in signifigance; truly a bond of two before the throne of god.  I gave the vows that will command my future life and received undying love – god’s greatest gift.  Happily was last night spent and only through a healthy respect for the prospect of my own death was I persuaded here now, to meet with you, else in the company of my sweet, wedded, Katarine would I still reside.

Lig       A worthy maid she is?

Vor      Worthier than ever there was a woman.  Her very laugh, nay smile, sets my heart at ease, paints me as a new man, a man content.

Lig       Lax in his policy, I hope not.

Vor      Content of heart, not of brain.  My cunning is not deadened, nor my competitive spirit abated.  If for nothing else than for the honor of she I love, I will not sheath my cutting edge.  With woman, Vorhang is made no less a man, but greater by her acquisition.  Should all resolve be drained in hopeless, impending defeat, beneath the heavy trodden foot of insurmountable an enemy, one cause will always lead my resolve, will always guide my will to live through trials of blood and contest of life; that cause – my dire heart, my boundless love and dedication.  I live no more for selfish want of life – mortal desire, but for divine duty, a foreswearance before god that my life is given unto her.

Lig       I hope the good lady not neglect loyal Lignoli in her usage of your person.

Vor      Nay, Lignoli, your share of my person was long ago secured.  But now as the imminent hour of climax draws close, I need use of you as my inimitable tool.

Lig       My very will is yours to direct.

Vor      I have two orders for your dispatch, which must be carried quickly in seamless progression.  First, to Praktich you must hasten, who now prays, alone, in the chapel.  Hasten to the confessional, to seek the advice of the good father.  If your arrival is affected with adequate consternation and agitation, Praktich will be unable to resist a furtive listen at the door.  In loud and clearly enunciated voice exclaim how you have just now left Lord Vorhang who believes Lord Praktich to be conspiring against the Emperor due to your own testimony of observation.  Your conscience weighs heavy, for you believe the Emperor, of whom Vorhang is making an immediate pursuance in his chambers, will execute Praktich without a second’s consideration.  Praktich, having recently left the court knows the Emperor to be detained in his office for some hours consumed in documents of state.  In hopes of stopping me before my locating the Emperor, he will seek to immediately intercept me somewhere along the way.  The chapel being beyond the Emperor’s personal chambers, Praktich will rush along my route, from the Emperor’s chambers to his office, from my rear, disallowing him the opportunity to block my progress and affording me the luxury to confine his confrontation to the hall where I have, as we speak, the Emperor concealed, awaiting my promised “evidence of treachery”.

Lig       Cleverly arranged.

Vor      Oh, and use the first confessional, I have widened a chink in the door to allow you a view of the chapel doorway, so that you may ascertain if Praktich has complied with the scheme.  Should he chose not to listen at the door, or to act on the information provided him, you will need persuade him in some other way, I trust this to your own cunning; but, above all, do not play your role too earnestly and lead Praktich to suspicion.  It is better the opportunity missed than the man informed of our machinations.

Lig       Understood.  Your second instruction?

Vor      Yes, if all should proceed satisfactorily, hasten to the stables where I have prepared your horse and ride to the western keep.  Should a conflict of arms arise I will need you there to ensure that Kugel remains neutral.  Convince him that a war will reach no decisive resolution but shall cost many lives.  Should you determine that he shan't be persuaded, kill him before he suspects your negotiations may be nearing a conclusion and his mind has yet to consider his personal danger.

Lig       Very well, have no fear.  Your instructions shall be executed to the paragon of human capacity.

Exit Lignoli

Vor      My last device put into action, my thoughts thus freed from occupation, I yearn inconsolably for my Katarine.  The devil’s compulsion leads me to rationalize some foolishness of decision, to marginalize my duties at the beck of hormonal obsession; my presence still requisite, I can not go to her.  I must remain, to act a final role of deceit, and then, that concluded to satisfaction, once more resume my place as the word of truth the people trust.  My last difficulty of this trial will be to explain the just demise of the calumnious deceased and thus consummately ensure Arnulf’s future tenure as our glorious emperor.

 

Scene 3

A hall

Arnulf concealed

Enter Gespent

Ges      I have tracked him some few minutes as he wanders, aimlessly, the halls and even now doubles back on himself, driving me before him.  Doubtless is the nature of his preoccupation as he gazes fondly and listlessly upward into the frescoes, dwelling on the fair forms of goddesses and nymphs.  My bewitching Katarine torments his mind as she does mine.  But his disadvantage is his ignorance, from his position of favor he is unaware that a competition even exists; I am free to plot his defeat with impunity.  When the king falls, gone will be Vorhang’s favor and protection; he will be at the mercy of the new regime.  It is only a matter of time, Katarine shall soon be mine.  Zounds, he draws too near, I must hide until he passes.

 

Enter Vorhang

 

Vor (to himself)            And here shall Arnulf slay our enemy, alone, should witness of the butchery bestain his already bloody reputation.  Although, a beneficent luxury would the testimony of a witness be… nay the innocent conviction of the Emperor’s simple countenance shall be evidence enough for those who know him.  These simpletons we call men, who, by handicap of their limited grasp of strategy, are incapable of fathoming the depth of my artifice, can not deny true conviction when they shall behold it in the face of their leader.  Now where did I put that king of mine?  My liege.

Emp     Vorhang, how goes the deceit, does it draw near that I may view it?

Vor      Soon, my lord, I hope to detain Praktich and evince from him evidence sufficient to incriminate his person in the cabal against yourself.

Ges (aside)       What’s this?

Vor      You have not you your sword, my lord.

Emp     Nay, I came just from my office.

Vor      Here, hold mine, so that Praktich may feel no affront from myself and be lured into confiding.

Emp     Very well, if it may help.  The prospect of this evidence excites me, that I may know the names of my enemies.

Vor      Good Arnulf, conceal yourself, I suspect this rushed step to be his.

Enter Praktich

Pra       Vorhang!

Vor      Praktich?

Pra       Equanimity to the end, is it?

Vor      Careful my lord that you don’t frighten me.

Pra       Oh but you have reason to fear, such unfounded accusations you make against me.

Vor      That you plot against the king?  I stand behind the veracity of my convictions, let wretches lie as they might.

Pra (drawing sword)     Oh, lie you shall, in the company of your wise king, shortly enough.

Vor      My good man, I am unarmed.

Pra       And soon to be disemboweled.

Emp     Villainy!

Arnulf and Praktich fight

Pra       My good lord, be reasonable!

Emp     Treachery uncovered!

Ges      If I do not act soon, I fear, all will be lost.  Guards!  Guards!

 

Enter Conrad, Schlag, Barr, palace guards and a mob of lords and courtesans.

 

Ges      The king is mad!  He will kill lord Praktich!

Vor      This passion can not be witnessed in its bloody glory, the mob may be incited.

Con      This tyranny we have endured too long, detain him.

Vor      Arnulf, by god’s mercy, let him live, that all may be explained.

Arnulf kills Praktich

Ges      Murder!  The tyrant feeds on blood!

Emp     Justice shall be served.

Con      Then let none stand in its way!

The mob closes on Arnulf and Conrad slays him

Vor      Regicide!  The king has been murdered!

(the mob is silenced)

Vor      What have ye done?  Has all semblance of the human passion for order and civility been lost from this land, when impassioned mobs may lay hands on kings and murder at their leisure, when justice is not determined in the court but in the halls and streets?  Shame!  Shame on your heads, shame on the heads of all Franks, shame on a proud people driven to the depths of animal compulsion.  You know not what transpired here, not what villainy your king justly pursued; but yet some of you do.  There are some amongst ye distended by your own pride and gluttonous for power that conspired at the side of this odious corpse while it still lived.  Perhaps you are saved by his demise and the death of our great emperor, who, alone in his wisdom, grew aware of your celerity.  But in your own hearts you know your deceit, you feel the black canker that grows in your heart and may you embrace the ensuing suffering of our leigeless peoples who will undoubtedly fall victim to Huns, Polacks and Northmen alike in the years of confusion, nay chaos, that await our leaderless lands.

Bar       He speaks the truth, we have wrought this upon ourselves.

Con      All is not yet lost.

Vor      Nay, but it is, even now word spreads and our enemies shall learn of our weakness.

Con      We shall find a new king, one capable of defeating our enemies.

Vor      I fear with one stroke of your hand, Conrad, you have defeated us all; we have a king and he is but a babe, Arnulf’s infant heir.

Con      Nay, it was but the mob, I acted not alone.  A new king… Lord Vorhang!

Vor      Please, your harsh tone shakes my shattered nerves.

Con      Lord Vorhang, you hold as clear a right to the throne as did Arnulf.  Could you rule?

Vor      Aye, we shared a great grandfather, yet I fear none holds a hardy claim.

Con      Then it is clear that you should be regent for his infant son.

Vor      Me?

Con      You command the loyalty of the armies like none other, the enemy fears your stratagems on the field.  You understand the affairs of state, are well spoken and above all you are just and forgiving.

Vor      Yes, my forgiving nature is my weakness.

Bar       Then Lord Vorhang shall be regent!

Sch      We must place him immediately!

Ges      Perhaps we should reconsider.

Sch      Call the bishop, call the council!

Con      Long live Lord Vorhang!

All        Long live Lord Vorhang!

Exit all but Gespent

Ges      Arnulf dead, Praktich dead, the two greatest figures in this contest are fallen, like queens traded in a game of chess.  And Vorhang to profit.  Plans so well laid, dashed upon collision with the conflicting interests; I must wonder if the gods favor no one in this contest.  Both sides suffer, and Conrad, the fool, gives up our advantage in his fearfulness.  The coward, the imbecile, if it were I in his place I would have laid out Vorhang with one stroke, forever silencing his venomous tongue.  Now with this ill turn of events my cunning will need deliver me shall I live to see my prophesy.

 

Act 5

Scene 1

The throne room

Vorhang and Lignoli

 

Vor      So, with the present so closely on the heels of the future that what each moment held was a mystery untill it passed, I seized the situation and inspired them to place me as regent.  It was all I could devise on such short notice and I saw our utter undoing should I relinquish just one moment to chance.

Lig       Unbelievable, and Conrad, the leader of the mob.

Vor      We are fortunate that so often the men who think are not the men who act.  A dangerous combination that is, when the man who knows all risks has the courage to take them.

Lig       Was Conrad was not the leader of the cabal?

Vor      Hardly, he was an impetuous man acting on his sense of justice.  A member of the cabal, surely, but not its leader or even a major conspirator.  Nay, Praktich was the brains, and when called to act, he did, as ineffectually as expected of one who knows but theory and is loath to perform when there is call for actuality.

Lig       Are we men, you and I, of thought and action?

Vor      Aye, and a rare breed we are, we are the unseen authority that drives the societies of men.

Lig       Why, suppose you, are there not more such men as us?

Vor      Intellect and courage are so counter to one an other, a balance such as ours is quite unnatural.  Some pernicious hormone drives us from the safety of anonymity and compels in us a grasp for power against avoidable adversity.

Lig       But the struggle is over now, we have reached the peak and there is nowhere left to climb.

Vor      We can always fall and here begins the effort most unpleasant when we must defend against the aspirations of others.

Lig       Do we have cause for fear?

Vor      Fear, perhaps not, but our enemies still live; I should rather think of our compulsory concern as a careful regard for danger.  Fear is irrational; it is necessary to be aware of threats, and act against them but we must never succumb to fear.  If nothing else, fear is a malignancy that ruins a man’s life through an undermining of his sane thought.  For sanity is life – what is all the wealth and power of the world if one can not enjoy his very existence?

Lig       Your words trouble me, do you believe a careful regard for danger can be accomplished without the eventual fatigue of the emotions, can a man enjoy authority?

Vor      It is a question I have spent my life contriving to avoid. 

Lig       How?

Vor      By avoiding the ostensible trappings of power: purple robes and a golden crown.

Lig       Is it not possible, then, to relinquish the throne unto some new and unsuspecting soul, over whom you may exert control?

Vor      Only if such a soul holds a blood right to the throne, and of recent times such men are rare.

Lig       If the queen had died in pregnancy, rather than in birth, and no heir lived, how then would the situation stand?

Vor      I have thought of this, should young Louis die or be lost, rightful succession is a vague mess.  When the late Arnulf claimed the throne amidst blood and conquest he trod upon previous divine precedent – over a hundred years of blood succession from Charlemagne himself.  There were of course political extenuations to his coup, Charles the Fat was a thoroughly inept man incapable of defending from foreign predators the kingdoms he had inherited.  And with his honest, authoritative, reputation, dubious royal heritage and my help, Arnulf established a new regime atop the divine endorsement of military victory.  Arnulf left well alone the ruling aristocracy, from one regime to the next the same families held power in the court and, through this continuancy, alleviated public unrest.  Of the old royal family, none survived Arnulf’s touch, Louis himself was mysteriously dead within two months and following the bloodshed, only cousins, with claims to the throne as distant as his own, remained.  Of these male cousins still alive, lord Gespent holds the clearest succession.

Lig       Gespent!  The worst snake of the bunch.

Vor      True, I yearn to kill him immediately, to rid myself of his unnerving presence, yet I can’t help but feel that in him there may be some greater use.

Lig       He seems lately to lurk always underfoot.

Vor      Yes, his presence is constant, yet avoidant – he keeps himself from interaction.

Lig       Is he summoning his courage to broach some subject?

Vor      Most likely.  Some unpleasantness, no doubt.  But I plan to humor him, for it is better to have his motives where I can see them than bottled up inside his perverted frame.  Perhaps when I uncover his secrets, I may draw him up in chains of intrigue and make him my puppet on the throne.

Lig       A risky endeavor, to make your enemy your lord.

Vor      True, an undertaking to be carefully observed, but have faith, good Lignoli, if there is man alive who can assure our prosperity it is I.  I beseech you, get rest tonight, your wit I will need on the morrow.

Lig       I hope for your sake and mine, this mastery of humanity lies in man’s capacity.

 

Exit Lignoli

 

Vor      And I am regent.  Ah, to watch the face of the bishop once more as he oversaw the proceedings of his own undoing, cognizance of his fate painted plainly on his face.  In his eyes, weary disbelief that his Praktich had died and his gambit failed.  His eyes that could not bear to meet my own out of fear of what they would see; that they would witness understanding, the understanding that would seal his doom.  I must dispatch him soon, for even while Praktich makes food for worms, dissent has not yet cooled and the throne is dangerous still.

And yet, I am regent.  For this I did not prepare.  It seems always to be the case that for the one contingency overlooked, the one course of proceeding unaccounted, life is in pursuit.  Arnulf killed by an angered mob, an angered mob narrowly dissuaded from outright revolt only through clever improvisation and delicate manipulation of doubts and fears.  Fear, in the hands of a master, is surely man’s greatest bane, it may assist in prolonging his life but at the sacrifice of his profit.  Now, with my regency, comes the true test of my mastery of the wicked blade, that I shall not be struck, myself, in its wielding.

I am the regent to the throne.  Does this serve me?  Ostensibly, yes, all the power is mine directly.  It is a consolidation, no longer am I whispering from behind the curtain; one man stands alone on the stage.

Yet this is not good.  The eyes of every man look on me and even the obtuse now recognize lord Vorhang as the source of all their joys and miseries… and what is a man but a vessel of continuous, incurable, misery.  No man is content, no man loves his lord; in prosperity his pride craves, always, more and in famine it is his stomach.  As regent I am the focus of every man’s despair, the effigy of his disillusionment.  Nay, it is not fate nor incompetence that brings about ill fortune and hardship, it is the stifling presence of authority and I am its avatar.

Unlike my dearly tyrannical Arnulf, I am reasonable, a public perception that does me no good.  To me shall come the pathetic masses to beg for succor, understanding not economics nor politics, only the anodyne yes and the odious no.  No decision I make can be correct, shall I ruin the state with public appeasement or encourage my own vituperation through parsimony and sound management.

And where is my rest, where are the hours spent in the loving embrace of my Katarine, not yet one week my bride?  Shall every moment of my life belong to the ungracious public, shall my every movement feed their curiosity?  This throne is both a discomfort and a danger, better, I think, it was to hide in its shadow.

 

Enter Katarine

 

Vor      My dear Katarine, I have but now been thinking of you.  This damned crown keeps me from your company, I loath the long hours spent, in your absence, at the affairs of state.  If I could but give it up, I would.

Kat      Nay, give up not your glory for my sake, I too lament our extended absences with heavy heart, nearly breaking with want, but in time we will grow to accept such separation and even relish our time alone.  Tonight I will be yours and yours alone.

Vor      How I love to hear your voice, its sweet song gives me faith in all that you say, even were you to speak of my own demise.

Kat      In your prosperity lies my own, such words would never cross my lips.

Vor      May I kiss those lips for your company as I know not when again the opportunity may arise.

Kat      Such affection is most welcome but not the reason, alone, I come now to your side.

Vor      Oh no, so that I may gaze into your wondrous eyes and ponder the mysterious beauty of your thoughts.

Kat      My love, I have worry of Gespent, he follows me all hours of the day and mutters to himself, most audibly yet unintelligibly.  I fear our marriage has made him not well.

Vor      The poor man is enchanted by your charm, the very beauty that makes you my consuming love, draws forth the unwanted affection of other, lesser, men.  It is their fate to live in misery, unfulfilled.

Kat      I fear he may be a threat, not through my own allowance, but through the allowance of a mad man, his eyes grow more desperate by the day.  His obsession, I fear, grows increasingly singular.

Vor      Perhaps, my love, your days are too unoccupied and through this boredom your mind is left to exaggerate.  I will arrange to remove your presence from the court and without the reach of his lecherous eye.  My love shall find many pleasures of recreation while I spend my days within these walls.

Kat      Perhaps you do not understand the severity of his pursuance; even now I fled him on fleet foot to the safety of your embrace.  You know not how many times I have searched in earnest to find your strong arms, only to discover no man but locked doors; the locked doors of state turning me away to hide in cold chambers, lonely and afraid.

Vor      My love, I desire not this foul occupation that keeps me from your side.  Trust, I will devise to be rid of the throne.

Kat      Dear, no, I am but a woman taken to exaggeration, do not succumb to measures so severe, rather – oh, here approaches Gespent now, he follows me yet.  Please speak to him, rid me of his plague.

Vor      Not without a kiss.

 

they kiss

Exit Katarine

Vor      Humble Katarine, a worthy queen.

Enter Gespent

 

Vor      Lord Gespent, how fares your person, you speak not often in court these days.

Ges      Vorhang.  The one.

Vor      What is that you speak of Gespent?

Ges      Again, you dominate with discourse, you humble my great thoughts with an abusive bearing.  This situation will not stand, Vorhang, it will not stand.

Vor      Of what are you speaking?

Ges      Dare you take everything in your greed?

Vor      Katarine can not be yours, good man, forget her, women are plentiful, the lord has blessed us with many.

Ges      You speak of her, but what of life and death?  I still live, you have not killed me yet, the prophesy will be realized.

Vor      Prophesy?

Ges      All may be foretold in cryptic terms but I know it is not my fate to be crushed by your hand; the ends shall be clear.

Vor      Gespent, your life need not be so strenuous, should you cease resistance and allow what will come to pass, you may yet be a happy man.

Ges      What shall come to pass is your lagging end.

Vor      It lags does it?  In my own hands lies the authority of life and death.  As long as it is my power to wield, I shall be safe from the cold touch of death.

Ges      No man is safe from its touch, and no man is a god.  I am a humble servant before fate and her justice shall be mine!

 

Exit Gespent

 

Vor      Peculiar, he is touched by madness, I believe.  A man with a malleable reality, can there be an easier subject to control?  His talk of prophesy has reminded me that I was once aware of a certain infatuation with oracles in dear Gespent.  I believe a well known hermit, residing in the foothills not far from here may hold the resolution to my troubles.

 

Scene 2

The woods

Vorhang and Lignoli

 

Vor      We are traveling now to the residence of a hermit whom many believe to be an oracle.  When we arrive, and I determine the situation to be safe, I will go in alone and present this man with an offer he can not refuse, for, even these holy men are reasonable in response to the right persuasions.

Lig       You think he may be bought?

Vor      I need him only to supplement his own agenda with my own; at the right price a holy miracle occurs and our discrete agendas become one.  Ah, here we are, Lignoli, his humble abode.  I must instruct you now on an errand of bloodshed.  The bishop and lord Conrad must both die; the bishop for calumny, Conrad for his proximity to the throne and his participation in the cabal.  Both deaths will be understood by the public and found acceptable.  Yet make them appear effected by vigilante justice; carried out by sympathizers with the crown but not the crown itself.

Lig       Yes my lord.

 

Exit Lignoli

Vorhang enters the oracle’s den

 

Vor      Oracle?

Orc      A great presence has arrived.

Vor      I come to you, not as your credulous customers, seeking appeasement for my worries, but as a man of business, with an offer to make.

Orc      I sense you are a man disrespectful of the greater powers.

Vor      My friend, I am one of the greater powers.

Orc      There is great privilege invested in you that you may speak with eloquence and manipulate many men to do your deeds, but you must maintain humility, lest you forget you are but a man and your influence – on loan from the spirits of the earth.

Vor      The spirits of the earth treat me well, and favor me with gifts.  This gold is but a fraction of the love they bear me.

Orc      Gold is not everything in this world, honor may grow indignant to its influence.

Vor      You need not preach to me of honor, I understand it all too well.

Orc      Humility is one face of honor.

Vor      Humility is affected to demonstrate compassion for others, it serves no purpose in the struggle for power.

Orc      Power is fleeting, love endures the passage of life.  In love there is humility.

Vor      I did not come here to speak to you of love, I know love well and I keep it clearly segregated from the pursuit of power. 

Orc      Then you are two men, one who loves and one who kills for profit.

Vor      I am Vorhang, husband and king, but one man.  Take this gold, I tire of your conversation.  When Gespent comes to you lead him to understand that Vorhang shall make him king should he cooperate.  Present it as a test of his faith, or however it is you lead him along.  Once you deliver you shall receive further installments of gold and enjoy the protection and patronage of the crown.

Orc      Can one man be two?  To love and to fight; is duality uncertainty or a pursuit of necessity?

Vor      If you are a wise man you will take this gold.

Orc      A wise man has focus.

Vor      Focus on this: take not this gold for what it can purchace with its spending, but rather what you purchace with its taking – my patience with you grows thin. 

 

the oracle takes the bag

Vor      You are a wise man after all.

Orc      Actions, as words, can speak untruths.

Vor      The pious are as mortal as the heathens.

Exit Vorhang

 

Scene 3

A hall

Enter Vorhang

Vor      Damn hermit, I have not the months to coddle him, to befriend his vices.  I fear he may not comply.  But my only hope lies in catching Gespent, else my life forever belongs to the people.  A fate I can not tolerate; the one thing I can not give up is the one thing that I desire more than anything – my freedom, my impunity.  I am shackled to resposibilities by forces beyond my control.  Control, once my life’s priority, now but a fond memory; I would, if I could, relinquish this kingdom for a simpler place where the sphere was small but the hegemony absolute.  What now?  For once I have no answer.

Enter Gespent

Vor      Gespent.  Shall I humor him, his presence is a surprise.

Ges      Vorhang, you snake, you serpent of hell.  Your very breath feeds nightshade that it may grow and spread, your gaze pierces and corrupts the innocent, your hands pick at the foundations of humanity.

Vor      You are mad!  What have I done to warrant this brazen calumny?

Ges      You are a creature not of men.  Men toil but for simple approbation – they find comfort in meals, their wives and the products of their hands.  You eat the souls of humans, you live off the consumption of others.  And the devil’s smile, they love you for it!  I know a demon when I see one.  That pretty face, so long your protective mask, is grotesque in my eyes.  By an angel, a bane of hellspawn, I was visited, and bestowed the gift of divine sight – I can see you as you are.

Vor      Gespent, I am a man who only loves.

Ges      Who loves consumption.  Were you thousand fold you would scourge the earth like locusts and eradicate the race of man.  Only Vorhang would remain, the man who is not a man.  I hear your inhuman thoughts, drumming in my head.  They keep me from sleep.  And without sleep, I come to feel as if I too am not a man, but something else.  I can not take pleasure in human pursuits, my mind is torn with confusion.  Your influence, your corruption is a contagion that has infected me.

Vor      Calm yourself, you need rest.

Ges      Of course I need rest, release from this torment.  Oh to sleep forever.  But if it weren’t for you, perhaps I could sleep again.  Perhaps I could feel, once more, the pleasure of life. (draws sword)

Vor      Gespent, be reasonable.

Ges      What reason?  Do you show reason in your appetite for another man’s happiness?

Vor      Gespent, we don’t have to be enemies, this animosity should end.  We need each other, the seat of power is too much for one man.  Don’t you see, I’m willing – I want, to share it with you.

Ges      I’d rather you share your blood, I suspect in its crimson shower I may clean myself.

Vor      Gespent, I speak to you frankly, we may both profit from an alliance; I don’t want to be king, these recent events were not my desire.  Gespent, you can be king, and I your advisor, it can be arranged, anything can be arranged.

Ges      Nothing shall be arranged but the flowers on your headstone.

Vor      You force me to draw although I do not wish it. (draws)

Ges      Come now Vorhang, have you not planned for this?

Vor      You are sick in the head, Gespent.  Let me help you.  Let me show you how our profit is mutual.

Ges      You’ve helped me quite enough!

They fight, Gespent is struck

Vor      There now, you’re wounded, will you give up this fatuous complaint.

Ges      When you give up my soul!

They fight, Gespent is struck

Vor      Gespent, you shall soon perish if we are to continue.  Can’t you see I speak the truth when I say I need you – that I don’t strike you dead?

Ges      Perhaps we have something in common – I too shall never relent.  My dedication to myself is unswerving, even my death shall be indignant to its cause.

They fight, Gespent is struck, Vorhang is struck

Vor      I’m hit.  So simple.

Ges      I’m coming you damn imposter, I’m coming to collect! (dies)

Vor      How is this, I’m mortal?  Where is my Katarine?  I should have been a poet.  (dies)

Enter Lignoli

Lig       Vorhang!  Vorhang!  Something has gone wrong, Conrad has escaped assassination!  I fear he comes here for you.  Blood.  Oh.  Oh, calamity, Vorhang is dead.  The day should never come.  A brother, a father, I have lost and I am ruined.

Enter Katarine

Kat      I feel as if I have been called.  He is dead, murdered by ambition.  I knew that some day it would occur, I hoped not so soon.  Such investment I made, such love I bear for he that is no more.  I loved him, as one can not help but love one as loyal and as charming.  But a man such as he could never be mine alone.  I knew this; I strove against such girlish desire.  He belonged to everyone, nay he belonged to himself.  I was foolish to be selfish, to think I could have so much.  He was ambitious, a trait that can not be resisted as it is a promise of so much.  Yet, for woman, the ambitious man is a danger not taken lightly, for he is prone to greater risk – himself, a great risk.  It is the greedy woman that takes an ambitious man and I shall suffer for my greed.  How, how could I allow this to happen?

Lig       The will of god is beyond the influence of any human soul.

Kat      My husband is dead! (weeps)

Enter Conrad

Con      Lombard scum face the man you wish to kill!  What’s this, Vorhang dead, Gespent too?  Have you killed them all, you crazed Milano?

Lig       Kill my lord?  I loved him more than my own father, my own country that I left.  This devilry was effected in my absence.  It was his orders that you should die.  I have no fault but to trust and serve completely.

Con      Lignoli, you are forgiven.

Enter lords and courtesans

Con      My sins can not be forgotten.  But with these deaths bestowed by vengeful god all has been washed clean.  I alone am left with the fate of the Franks at my discretion.  A people await my patronage and my chance for redemption the lord provides in his mercy.  I shall serve the people and lead them from these clouded hours to clearer days.  May my reign be as glorious as Charlemagne, shall we prosper unified, under one man and one purpose.  Here I pledge myself, my body, my soul to the service of the Franks.  The people always triumph, leaders pass but civilization persists.